Castle of the Alchemists - Super Chicken Productions

The Castle of the Alchemists is a castle with four main floors:
the Entry Level, Royal Level, Library Level, and Tower Level.
There are also a few rooms outside the Castle, and the towers in
the Tower Level enable you to go further up.

In this game, you will be facing a number of Monsters -- over 60
Monsters are located in the Castle!  The first thing to do, then,
is to collect some weapons and related items that will aid you in
your task.  Search through the Entry Chamber and the Courtyard
until you collect a large sword, a lightning rod, a fireball wand,
a white pistol that shoots silver bullets, and a trusty lamp.
These four weapons will be enough to kill the Monsters on Level I.
As you battle them, be sure to write down which weapons kill which
Monsters.  The same weapons kill the same Monsters all the time
but the Monsters' locations on the upper levels will change from
game to game.

When you have amassed your arsenal, go to the southeast corner of
the courtyard and go south to the Dungeon Master's Office.  Take
the keys from the drawer, light your lamp, and go down into the
Dungeon.  Slice up the Bogeyman and the Troll.  Take their
treasures.  Be sure to put the treasure chest in your hat!  Next,
zap the Squid with some electricity, and go north to the Zombie.
Talk to her to see what she says, then shoot her with a silver
bullet.  (By the way, you should try to talk to most of the
creatures that you think are capable of talking, and maybe some
others that don't strike you as speakers.  Sometimes the results
will be amusing.) You will then have "Dragonslayer," the Magic
Sword.  Go north again and toast the Skeleton, and you will be
able to get a Huge Ruby.  This ruby is the first of eight Crown
Jewels.  You can identify the Crown Jewels by the inscribed metal
bracket on each of them.  Put this in your hat too.

Sooner or later, the Thief will make her appearance and steal the
treasure you are carrying.  That's why it's important to hide some
of your treasure under your hat.  That is the one place she won't
search!

You have now reached the end of the line in the Dungeon, but you
notice a mirror.  Mirrors are transparent in this game, so you
just walk through them.  This one puts you at the end of the
Featureless Hall, face to face with the beady eyes of the Giant
Rat.  Hack up the Rat with the large sword (the other one only
works on dragons and similar reptilian things).  Go south and
silver-bullet the Werewolf, and then go south again to fry the
Suit of Armor, slice up the Ghoul, and electrocute the Pumpkin.
Then go east to the Main Entrance, deposit what treasure you have
left, and go north into the courtyard, west, and then south into
the Stables.

The Stables currently house the Hydra's altar.  Take the chest out
of your hat, and then Pray to Hydra.  Do not, repeat NOT, have any
crown jewels in your pockets whenever you are praying to the
Hydra, because you will need all of them to beat the Hydra.  The
same applies to the scepter (which won't fit in the hat).  The
snake priestess will appear to take your offering and will give
you a green amulet.  This amulet is important because it will
allow you to DISPEL any ghosts you come across.  The altar will
disappear, but the priestess will tell you where she will go to.

Now for the final part of the armament.  Go north from the
stables, east, and south to the staircase.  Go up, south, and
west.  You will be in the Armory.  Take the bleeding lance, and go
north to the storeroom.  After vanquishing the Monster there
(either the Tarantula, which can be roasted; the Gnome, who can be
sliced; Hecate, who can be dispelled; or Kabandha, who can be
zapped), open the forge and take the crossbow.  Your arsenal is
now complete.  While you're at it, take the matchbook also.

Go south to the Armory, east, and north to the stairs.  Go up one
level and then east to the playroom.  Knock off the Monster there
and then move the toys out of the way.  You will be in the Thief's
Hideout.  Take the ruby out of your hat and give it to the Thief.
She will appreciate your kindness and then leave.  At that point,
you can lie down on the bed for a well-deserved rest.  But not for
long, because all of your treasures, and her huge moonstone, fall
out of the bed!  (The moonstone, by the way, is a weapon.  If you
show it to a Monster, there is a chance that it will be mesmerized
and defeated that way.)

Go south out to the playroom, east to the Chamber of Osiris, Isis,
and Orus, and then south through a Monster, then drop all of your
treasures but one and go south again.  You will be at the Hydra's
altar.  Pray to the Hydra and the priestess will give you another
amulet, a blue one.  This one will get rid of Flying Carpets and
Trap Doors, a phenomenon you may already have experienced.  (If
you are hit by one of these things without the amulet, they do not
go away.  They relocate themselves somewhere on the floor on which
you encountered them.  Having the amulet on you is the only way to
destroy them.)

Now go north, pick up your treasures, and north again to the
enchanted chamber, west until you hit the staircase, and then up.
Go west and examine the strange scene in the northwest rotunda.
Then go east, drop all of your treasures but one, and go east
again.  Examine the scene in the northeast rotunda, and then pray
to the Hydra to get your third amulet, the red one.  This amulet
is the most powerful one because it is able to produce a creature
to help you fight.  You can't use it quite yet, however.

It's probably wise at this point to go back downstairs to drop off
all of your unnecessary treasures at the Main Entrance.  When you
do, go to the northeast corner of the courtyard where the "Arbor
Vitae" (which means "tree of life") is growing and pick up the
pine cone.  Then it's back to the staircase, and up to Level III.

Back at the Library Level, the next task is to find the Library.
Go all the way east to the enchanted chamber, and then south
through the hallway, through one more Monster, and south again to
the Chamber of Dagon.  Go west to the southeast reading room, and
northwest into the Library.

Once in the Library, you can get your hands on a very important
red book.  It is a pretty long book, and is important enough to
print out.  It is a directory of all of the Monsters, broken down
into "cults."  If you have been keeping track of which Monsters
are killed by which weapons, you will find out an interesting
fact:  All of the Monsters in the same cult are killed by the same
weapon!  The exceptions, of course, are the members of the cult of
Moloch, who are immortal, and the Monsters without a cult, which
will be dealt with shortly.  You also will find a blue book, which
contains information on the Hydra, and some folders, which contain
hints on how to vanquish some of the more difficult Monsters.

Okay.  Now most of the Monsters are no problem, so you can go west
and southwest to kill off the two Monsters there for another
treasure.  Now northeast and east back to the Library.  Then
southeast and east to the Chamber of Dagon, north four times to
the Chamber of Osiris, and west twice to the staircase.  Down one
level to Level II, and then east into the Art Chamber.  Pick up
the mural, go back west, and go south down the Audience Hall.

At the end of the Audience Hall, you meet the Black Death.  He is
a pushover for pine cones, so go ahead and toss him one.  OK, so
you got him mad, but at least he went away.  Get the scepter and
go southeast, and east into the King's Study.  You need to get
into the treasure room, so you have to show the room that you have
kingly power.  Wave the scepter, take the platter and the second
crown jewel, and wave the scepter again to get out.

Now go west to the Chamber of Moloch and north through the hallway
until you clear the Royal Bedchamber.  Take the pillow and the
third crown jewel, then go east and pick up the royal robe.  Exit
the closet and go northeast to the Privy, take the medicine (but
DON'T drink it because it's not yours -- can't you read labels?),
then move southwest back to the bedroom and push the button.  You
slide down the King's escape slide back to the Main Entrance.

At this point, you are probably wondering what the inscriptions on
the walls mean.  If you were to go far back enough to read the
inscriptions on the south wall of all three rooms in the Entry
Chamber, you would see this message:

      IN THIS CASTLE THOU
      ART HERE FOREVERMORE
      FOR ONLY THE MONARCH
   MAY PASS THROUGH THIS DOOR

Well, it looks like you have to be a king to walk through the
south door.  You have your robe and your scepter, but you are
missing something.  Ah, yes, we need to get you a crown.  But that
comes later.

For now, keep the lance and the platter and the medicine, as well
as your arsenal.  Drop everything else, and let's go upstairs on
the staircase.  At Level II, go south and then west into the
Armory, and then northwest.  Here you find the Zodiac Room, our
resident altar to Satan.  The description of the room tells you
the name of a number of entities, a number of whose chambers we
have already come across.  The trouble is, however, that there was
something wrong with the way we are reading this zodiac.  Satan
worshippers read things counterclockwise, not clockwise.  So the
actual order of the infernal deities is:  Moloch, Chemos,
Astoreth, Thammuz, Dagon, Rimmon, Osiris, Isis, Orus, Belial,
Mammon, and Beelzebub.  (This order corresponds to the order of
the cults in the library book.) Why does this matter?  Go south.
This is the Chamber of Thammuz.  Say DAGON.  Guess what?  You're
there, which is the southeast corner of Level III.  Say RIMMON.
You are now at the end of the featureless hall in Level I.  Say
OSIRIS (or ISIS or ORUS).  You are in the chamber dedicated to
those three in the northeast corner of Level III.  Now say BELIAL.
Where are we now?  Go east and find out.

After hacking your way through the Anteroom, go east.  You are in
the Throne Room.  Now that you know where you are, go west and
north.  Clear out the two Monsters in both ends of the dining
hall.  There are ten-branched candlesticks set on the east side
of the dining table.  Leave them there (you can't take them
anyway).  Don't they look familiar?  Or don't you remember the
scene in the northeast rotunda that showed the procession with the
Holy Grail?  All right, the procession involved a lance, the
candlesticks, the Grail, and a platter.  You have the lance and
the platter, and the candlesticks are on the table.  Let's just
arrange things in order here.  Put the lance on the table.  Go to
the other side of the room.  Notice the depression on the table?
Put the platter on the table.  It fits nicely into the depression.
Now we need to find the Grail.  Go northwest into the kitchen.  No
Grail, but there is a bowl here.  Maybe that'll do?  While you're
here, go east to the storeroom and clear it out, then west and
southwest.  You are at the west end of the table, so put the bowl
on it.  Wait a while, and lo!  The bowl gives forth a great light!
It was the Grail all along!

Now take your treasures back and go back out to the anteroom, and
then go west.  Now say MAMMON.  You should be in the Chamber of
Moloch, on the other side of the Throne Room.  We've been there,
so say CHEMOS.  You hear weird crackling noises from the north, so
let's go that way just to be adventurous.

You are now in the Mad Scientist's Lab.  The Scientist is crazy
and is running around the room!  The poor guy hasn't taken his
antidepressant medication in days, so give him his bottle.  Then
you can talk to him to find out what he knows, and then ask him
about lots of things.  Also, because he is bragging so much about
his potions, ask him for one.  He will give you a free demo bottle
-- trial size, of course.  The potion can be used as a weapon or a
means of self-defense, but its effects are unpredictable.  (If you
use your potion up, just come back and ask him for another potion.
He's got lots more where that came from.)

While you're here, go north to the Alchemist's Study.  In addition
to getting the treasure, read the book there.  It gives you a
recipe for exorcising voodoo.  You know where the pentagram is and
you know that you just picked up some candles.  We do need to get
some goose feathers, however.

With that in mind, we leave the Scientist for greener pastures.
Go south, then east through the hallway until you find the Ming
vase, then go east until you hit the wall.  Go south to the
Chamber of Dagon, say RIMMON, go south until the Featureless Hall
stops, and then go east to the Main Entrance.  Pick up the pillow,
the match, the keys, the Holy Grail, and the Bleeding Lance, and
drop everything but your arsenal.  Then go north and up.  Drop the
holy relics, then go south, west, and northwest.  (You are about
to perform a satanic ritual, which the holy relics could screw
up.)

Once in the Zodiac Room, open the pillow.  Put the candles in the
pentagram.  Then light them, and PRAY TO SATAN.  Poof!  The great
Abaddon shows up, ready to do battle!  Lead him southeast, east,
north, up, and southwest.  (You had better be quick, because he is
not the most patient demon in the world.) Once there, sit back and
watch Abaddon clobber the Witch Doctor.  Go northeast and down,
pick up the Holy Relics, and then go up, southwest, and north.
This is the altar of Azazel, standard-bearer to Satan.  Go west
into his inner chamber.  Of course he can't be killed, but
sticking the Bleeding Lance into him will get him sore enough to
want out.  (By the way, you won't be able to see anything in this
room, or stay in it more than one turn, without the Grail.  And
the Grail cannot have any water in it because that messes up its
light-giving properties.) Go northwest.

You are now in Azazel's Treasure Chamber, with one Crown Jewel and
one blonde nymph.  Talk to her to wake her up, kiss her for good
measure, and then lead her out.  Go southwest to the Inner
Chamber, east, south, and northeast.  Go down, south, and west to
the Armory, and then turn the wheel (which does lower the
drawbridge).  Go east, north, and down to the Entry Level, and
then keep going north.  When you try to cross the drawbridge,
Ariel will turn herself into a deer and go first.  Cross the
bridge after her and fill the Grail with water.  Then cross the
drawbridge back into the Castle.

At this point, you have several options.  You can change your
green amulet or your blue amulet to either a satanic or a holy
amulet.  The way you harness the satanic power is to put the
amulet in the pentagram in the Zodiac Room and pray to Satan.
(The candles have to be lit before the prayer to Satan will work.)
The way you turn something into a holy amulet is to start with a
Grail full of water and stick your amulet inside.  The new amulets
will have all of the features of the old one, plus a few more
which you can discover by reading or examining them.  Let's not
touch the red amulet just yet, because we have some more work to
do.

Okay.  Go south to the staircase and up to the top.  Go south to
the Main Tower and up two floors.  In addition to the panoramic
view, you will find another Crown Jewel.  Go back down to the base
of the Main Tower, northwest to the Rotunda, and southwest to the
Belfry.  After shooting the Vampire, go into the closet and take
the cuff links and broom.  Go back into the Belfry and foil the
bats by pulling on the rope to drive them crazy.  Take the pot of
gold, go north (which puts you in the Northeast Rotunda), and then
north to the Green Room.

Once in the Green Room, give the pot of gold to the Leprechauns.
They go out partying and give you the pot.  Go south, west, down,
east, and south to the Torture Chamber.  The Witch needs her
transportation, so give her the broom (which, it turns out, was
hers anyway).  Take the treasure and go west, west again into the
Voodoo Room, south, and south through the mirror.  Take the box of
jewels, then go south through the mirror and southwest.  From the
Chamber of Chemos, say ASTORETH.  You are in her secret chamber,
with another Crown Jewel.  Take it and exit to the southeast.  Now
go south.  You are now at the base of the Tower of Lilith, guarded
by the fierce Cerberus.  Or is he that fierce?  Attack him -- yes,
with your bare hands!  That throws him into a panic and he goes
away.  Ascend into the tower and retrieve the next Crown Jewel.
Go down and north two times, and then you will be in a room with a
curious hole in the wall.  It's actually a keyhole, so use your
keys on it.  Poof!  You are on Level I.  Go south to the end of
the Dungeon, up, north through the Dungeon Master's Office, west,
and south to the Main Entrance.

Back at home base, go ahead and take the silver platter and the
bottle of wine, keep the keys, and drop any unnecessary treasures.
Go north into the middle of the courtyard.  What do you know, the
Witch is here!  Talk to her, and she scoops you up with her broom
and takes you on a wild ride around the countryside!  After you
get back down to earth, she will follow you around for a little
while (during this time you can tell her to attack things, and
she'll do so).  I'm sure you're grateful for her assistance.  So
why not kiss her?  I know, I know, because she looks like she's
1000 years old!  But try it anyway.  It turns out that she's a lot
younger than she looks -- otherwise she has to beat the warlocks
away with a stick!  She will zap you into the royal boudoir
(because she's got class, of course).

After your tryst in the royal bedchamber is finished, go south and
east.  Use your keys to go up two levels.  Then go north, west
three times to the northeast rotunda, and then north.  Uh, oh, the
sorceress Circe is here, and she likes to turn people into
animals!  (Try to attack her and you'll find out what I mean.)
But, as the Scientist undoubtedly told you (if you asked him), she
is a lonely person.  So try a little romancing.  First get her in
the mood with the California wine.  Oh, she loves to drink!  Now
kiss her.  She gets so excited she has to run away to take a nap.
That means you can go west.  You are now at the base of the Tower
of Merlin.  Careful!  There is a basilisk here!  If you aren't
careful, you will be turned to stone by its stare.  So trick it by
showing it the silver platter.  It looks at the platter long
enough to see itself.  Petrifying sight!  Go up into the Tower of
Merlin, and get the last Crown Jewel.  Go back to Circe's room,
and south to the Rotunda.  Study the diagram there, because we are
now going after the Hydra.  Move east, down the staircase to the
first level, and south to the Main Entrance.

Now let's make sure you have what you need.  You need the royal
scepter, you need eight Crown Jewels, and you need a powerful
friend.  That's where your red amulet comes in.  Don't conjure the
Witch, because you can do lots better.  You could go to the Altar
of Satan, put the red amulet within the pentagram, and PRAY TO
SATAN, which would conjure up Azazel.  (You remember, Abaddon
talked about him after knocking off the Witch Doctor.) But we're
going to do something better.  Make sure the Grail has plenty of
water in it, and toss the Red Amulet inside.  A cloud of smoke
appears, and who should be standing before you but the Black
Death!

Once Death appears, lead him up the stairway to the Tower Level,
go west, southwest, and then south.  You are in the Dark Hallway.
Go east three times.  Monsters will try to get in your way, but
simply tell Death to attack them.  (He'll cleave them in two as
long as you don't get too greedy.) Go south to the Glowing Room,
pick up the jade idol, go east through the mirror to the other
Glowing Room, pick up the silver coffer, and come back.  Go north
into the hall, west, and south.

You are now in the Hydra's Lair.  You now have to beat the Hydra
with the Crown Jewels and the Black Death.  As you may have
noticed, each Crown Jewel has a metal bracket on it with a magic
word inscribed on it.  Each of these magic words is a name like
"Dasher," "Dancer," or "Prancer," spelled backward.  Recognize
these names?  They're Santa's reindeer, of course!  That means
what you now have to do is say the names of each of Santa's eight
reindeer, backward, and in sequence.  If you do this correctly,
eight of the Hydra's heads will be history.  The last one is
immortal, but so is your powerful friend.  So tell the Black Death
(or Azazel, if you brought him along instead) to get rid of the
last head.  The two Immortals cancel each other out, the Snake
Priestess comes out and follows her husband (her HUSBAND?) into
the hereafter.

It is now a simple matter to get to the Snake's Treasure Chamber,
which contains not only all of the booty you used to get your
amulets, but also the King's Crown!  You have no problem taking
all the treasures, but how do you get out of the chamber?  You're
lucky because the priestess left you a magic word, "SEND."  Saying
"SEND" doesn't work for you, primarily because you're not the
priestess.  Try saying it like how the priestess would, namely
with a few more S's.  If you do this right, you should wind up in
the Stables.  Wander back to the Main Entrance.

By now, you should have all three of the Royal Raiments -- the
robe, crown, and scepter.  Let's see how it feels like to look
like a monarch.  Remove the wizard's hat and robe.  Put on the
royal robe, make sure you are holding the scepter, take the
wizard's hat and robe, and then wear the crown.  That will open
the south door to the Main Entrance.  When on the winding path,
you may want to talk to Ariel, who, as you remember, changed
herself into a deer.  Go down the winding path closer to the
beach.  You are now next to the Gazebo, which is reserved for the
Greatest Wizard of the Castle.  But you cannot enter now,
primarily because you still look like a king.  Take off your royal
raiments, and put on the wizard's garb.  Then enter the Gazebo and
take a close look at the folks having fun on the beach.

Well, all you have to do now is say one last magic word.  It's
written on your scepter.  I won't spoil the ending for you, except
to say it's December 24th.

Good luck!

*** The following is a listing of all possible points, with
locations.  ***

     Level I

    5 Pearl Necklace (Hall)
   15 Diamond Ring (Hall)
    5 Gold Cups (Hall)
    5 Emerald Pendant (Hall)
    5 Gold Statue (Hall)
    5 Various Coins (Dungeon)
   10 Treasure Chest (Dungeon)
    5 Sheaf of Bills (Dungeon)
   40 * Huge Ruby (Dungeon)....................95

     Level II

   15 Valuable Mural (Art Chamber)
   50 Bleeding Lance (Armory)
   30 * Huge Emerald (Royal Bedchamber)
   50 Royal Robe (Royal Closet)
   80 Royal Scepter (Throne Room)
    5 Silver Platter (King's Treasure Room)
   10 * Huge Pearl (King's Treasure Room)
  100 Holy Grail (Produced in Dining Hall)....340

     Level III

   25 Diamond Collection (Small Balcony)
   20 Faberge Egg (Dark Storeroom)
   10 Gold Brick (Alchemist's Study)
   20 Ming Vase (Secret Hallway)
   20 Moonstone (Thief's Hideout)
    5 Turquoise Necklace (Voodoo Room)
   15 Jewelled Scarab (Torture Chamber)
   20 * Huge Opal (Azazel's Treasure Room)....135

     Level IV

    5 Cuff Links (Broom Closet)
   10 Jade Idol (Glowing Room)
   15 Silver Coffer (Glowing Room through mirror)
   10 Small Pot (Bell Tower)
   10 * Huge Amethyst (Tower of Merlin)
   20 * Huge Topaz (Secret Chamber of Astoreth)
   30 * Huge Sapphire (Tower of Lilith)
   40 * Huge Diamond (Main Tower)
  100 Crown (Snake's Treasure Room) (incorporates 8 Crown Jewels
      [*])....................................240

  240

     Miscellaneous Points
   20 Defeating Thief
   10 Returning pot to Leprechauns
   10 Offering prize of 10 or more points to Hydra
   20 Kissing the Witch
   20 Kissing the Nymph
   10 Taking the Nymph to the Drawbridge
  100 Entering the Wizard's Gazebo
  190........................................1000